Log 114; Day 311; Mar. 28, 2009; New River City Marina

Sitting here on the New River, boats like this go by on a very regular basis

And some of them are over 150 feet

Not sure if you can tell in this picture, but they have 2 tow boats taking this boat out of the river. The one you see on the stern here, is being towed backwards, and (when necessary) uses it's power to help turn the boat...like it is doing in this picture.

One of the 40 or 50 large yachts at the Palm Beach Boat Show

Another one...this one has 3 levels of lounge chairs on it, and an engine room the size of our boat

One of the only sailing vessels...this one is from Brussels

Does this only seem crazy to me?

This is more our size...and something we would like to have for a weekend boat, once we sell Headquarters.

Log 114
Day 311
Saturday, March 28, 2009
7:30 AM EST
Location: New River City Marina, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Weather: 74 and still windy...it will be about 84, and windy today

The wind still has not let up...gusting to about 23 as I write this. It is certainly warm, and humid, but windy. The winds are forecasted to let up on Monday.

Yesterday...we rented a car and drove about 1 hour north to West Palm Beach to the Palm Beach boat show. I think this is a very good show. It’s not too large, so you can get around, and not so small that there is nothing to see. There were boats there from dinghys, to yachts over 150 feet. Also, most all of the companies, that are vendors to the marine industry, were present. That is my favorite part, to see what new items they have. We got there about 10:30, and left about 3. Very enjoyable.

On the way back from the show, I got a call from my brother telling me that my Mom had passed away. This was not shocking news, as she had been in the hospital and nursing home since Christmas, and she was getting worse, instead of better. But, even though her passing was a blessing, and the best thing for her, it’s still hard to lose someone in the family.

So, our plans have changed considerably. I arranged for us to take the boat to Marina Bay Marina this morning, which is very protected, and further up the New River. They have floating docks, and I will feel more comfortable leaving the boat there, verses here on the wall in the New River. I also will be going to the airport this morning and picking up a rental car, and tomorrow Deb and I will drive home (Herscher, IL)...a distance of 1126 miles. The services are planned for next Saturday, so not sure when we will head back to Fort Lauderdale.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 113; Day 309; Mar. 26, 2009; New River

Here is how I spent the last two days...looking at, and burried in, the bilge area. But all is fixed now, and works great.

Along with a bilge pump problem, we had to hire a diver to get a plastic bag out of our A/C intake

This is Roland...The Diver...getting ready to do his job


Deb says "if this retirement thing doesn't work out...you have a barge company to fall back on"

At the end of the day, all is well, and we enjoy a nice sunset over the New River

Log 113
Day 309
Thursday, March 26, 2009

8:30 AM EST
Location: New River City Marina, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Weather: 68 and still windy...it will be about 78, and windy today

The rain stopped on Monday, but the winds still continue to be 15 to 20 mph SSE each day. They are forecasted to remain like this until next Monday, when it will be in the 10 to 15 mph category. Still, it’s very warm each day (in the 80’s) and not bad at all. I’m just glad we do not have to go out in the Atlantic for a while.

The last 3 days have been about repairs and maintenance on the boat. The bilge pump turned out to be more of an issue than I originally thought. I lowered the pump, and raised the float switch, but that did not do the trick...it still would not run right. After a lot of time trying to determine why it would run sometime...and not others...I decided to call a mechanic to tell me what was wrong. The problem was I could not find a mechanic, so I walked the docks looking for someone who looked like a mechanic, and asked them if they could fix it. In doing so I ran into Ricardo, who said he only worked on electronics, but had a friend (Paul) who could fix it. He gave me his cell number, and I called Paul, who said he would be there first thing Tuesday morning. During the day, I got down in the aft bilge and cleaned away all hoses and wires that were in the way of the bilge pump (the hardest part of the entire job), so it would be easy (and less costly) for Paul to ultimately fix the problem. About 6 pm on Monday, Paul called to say it would be later in the day on Tuesday, and finally arrived at the boat at 4 pm. When I showed him what was wrong, he tried several things (all of which I had done) and finally said “I have never seen anything like this before...the only thing I would know to do, would be to throw this pump away, and install a new one”. Which is exactly what I planned to do (by the way...Paul never charged me anything to diagnose the problem). I called Jerry, late on Tuesday, to ask him for a ride to West Marine first thing on Wednesday to get a new pump...he was happy to help. During the night on Tuesday, all of a sudden, the A/C quit. I did not have the ambition, or the attitude, to fix it then, so we just shut it off and opened the windows. I did not need another project.

Wednesday...I got up early, and thought I’d try to fix the A/C before Jerry picked me up at 9, but it was not to be. Normally when the A/C quits on a boat, it is because of lack of water flow to the units, normally caused by an obstruction in the water intake from the thru-hull. I cleaned out the strainers, and then found out there was not a lot of water coming through the thru-hull. Assuming we had something caught in the thru-hull I took the hose and back flushed the system. It worked great...for about 10 seconds...then the water flow would decrease again. I tried this several more times...each time it would work...then stop again. Finally, I gave up...I figured we must have sucked up a plastic bag (very common) and that was causing the problem. Jerry picked me up at 9 and we headed to Boat Owners Warehouse (better than West Marine) and I got a new bilge pump, and also a couple of numbers for divers. Back at the boat, I called a diver (who said he’d be there later in the afternoon) and tackled the bilge pump problem. It took about 3 hours to install the new pump, and re-install all the hoses and wires, but in the end it worked perfect. The diver showed up at about 3 pm, and it took him about 2 minutes to locate the problem...a HUGE plastic bag had lodged itself in the thru-hull fitting. Because he charged a minimum of$200 to do the job, I also had him clean the bottom of the boat. He also noticed that some of my zincs were getting worn, and would need replacing in the next few weeks.

So, after a couple of days working, (while I was in the bilge and engine room, Deb was handing me tools, and cleaning the inside of the boat) we are relaxing today. We also decided to rent a car and drive to West Palm Beach tomorrow to see the West Palm boat show. This is a show we came to Florida to see a few years ago, and really liked it, so we are looking forward to seeing it again. The plan is to pick up the car first thing tomorrow, and take it back on Saturday. Only $49 for the day...not bad. We are also thinking a dinghy ride out to the ICW might be in order today. We’ll see.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 112; Day 306; Mar. 23, 2009; Fort Lauderdale

Just across the river from us is Briney's Pub, where they have this HUGE shark.

Here are our friends, Lynn & Jerry...from Sea La Vie...we had lunch with them at Le Tub on Friday

Just another day on New River...this is a constant scene of Mega Yachts going by us

We took a dinghy ride way up the New River where the ship yards are. Just for a perspective...the yacht in the front is 92 feet. I wonder how big the large yacht is?

This yacht has it's own covered slip...it has to be over 200 feet long, and there are many more like this one

Gary Hedge visited yesterday, and he wanted to see the engine room on HQ

Joan Hedge...on Headquarters

Log 112
Day 306
Monday, March 23, 2009

7:30 AM EST
Location: New River City Marina, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Weather: 68, windy, with gusts to 23 mph...it will be about 76, windy, and chance of rain today

It has been raining off and on for 3 days now. It has also been windy, and the forecast is for that to continue for a few days. Lots of marine warnings on the beaches for rip currents. (Side note; a couple years ago, a friend of mine, Ken Batista, a very strong swimmer, lost his life in the rip currents down here...they are certainly something to pay attention to). At about 2 pm last night, the wind kicked up, and it rained hard again for a while. This morning it’s very cloudy, and winds of 15 to 20 mph...not one of those beautiful mornings we have been used to for several weeks.

On Friday we went to a Marine Flea Market with Lynn and Jerry, our friends on Sea La Vie. It was interesting to see...lots of used stuff, and a fair amount of “junk”...but I assume (because I’ve not been to a real flea market before) similar to normal flea markets...except this stuff was all marine. I did buy a couple of LED bulbs for the boat, and we had a great lunch at Le Tub (again) so it was a very good day, none the less. We also stopped off at Boat Owners Warehouse, a great marine store I had not been to before, and I did find a couple of things I had to have. We were back at the boat by 4 pm, and had a quiet evening.

Saturday...it rained all day, and we had a very lazy day on the boat. About 4 pm, I was walking past the helm, and saw a light on the control panel was on. It turned out to be a light telling me the aft bilge pump was running...not a good thing. After checking everything out, and determining that we did not have a water leak, I determined that the bilge pump was running because the float switch that shuts off the pump was too low, and the pump could not pump the water out enough to make the switch shut down the pump. We fixed the pump temporarily, but it needs a permanent fix...which I plan to do on Monday.

Sunday...the rain finally stopped, and the sun was out most of the day. It was still windy, but got to near 80 degrees. I needed a tool to try to fix the aft bilge pump, so I called Jerry on Sea La Vie, and asked him, if he was out running errands (which I know he does almost every day) would he mind swinging by, and taking me to Home Depot...which he did. I picked up a side angle drill and driver tool, to help remount the bilge pump, which I am hoping will fix the issue we are having. At 3 pm Gary and Joan Hedge, long time friends of ours from Geneva, IL stopped by the boat. They drove from Illinois down here, to visit Joan’s parents, and celebrate her Dad’s 85th birthday. Gary is also a certified financial planner, and stopped along the way (coming down here, and going back) to visit several of his clients...us, being one of them (although our visit was mostly social). After a couple hours of catching up, we walked to the Downtowner Saloon, just a couple of blocks away, and they treated us to a great dinner. It’s always great being with Gary and Joan...we have had some wonderful times over the years, and relive those memories each time we get together.

Today...the main thing on the agenda is to fix the aft bilge pump. My belief is I can do that if I lower the pump...or raise the float switch. It is a very difficult place to get in to, and will not be easy to do, but I think I can fix it without hiring a mechanic. At least that’s my plan. Other than that, we have no plans as of yet. At this point, we are planning to stay here in the New River for another week, and then maybe head out to one of the marinas on the ICW, nearer the coast. We don’t plan to leave the Fort Lauderdale area until the first part of April.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob